Thursday

Mar 1, 2018 at 12:01 AM

HESPERIA — For Carlota Estrada, the night her daughter and two grandsons died a year ago was the beginning of a real-life nightmare.

The grieving mother spoke to the Daily Press on Wednesday, a day after the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, responding to a public records request from the Daily Press, said Christina Eileen Estrada was “under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication” when the car she was driving on Main Street left the road and became submerged in the California Aqueduct on March 2, 2017.

“Through toxicology examination, investigators determined that at the time of the collision, the driver, 31-year-old Christina Estrada, was under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication, causing the collision that resulted in Estrada’s death, as well as the death of two of her children,” Hesperia Sheriff’s Station officials said Tuesday.

However, Carlota Estrada is adamant that the Sheriff’s Department’s findings are flawed.

“Something is not right here,” she said. “I don’t believe my daughter was under the influence when the accident happened.”

Despite the aqueduct property being under state control, Carlota Estrada continues to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Hesperia.

In the claim for damages received by the city, Estrada names “unknown city workers and or contractors” for her her daughter and grandsons' “wrongful death” and asks for “unknown at this time, but no less than” $10,000, in the document obtained by the Daily Press.

In a lengthy interview at the Daily Press office, Estrada also spoke about what she and her family believe led to the tragic accident that claimed the lives of Christina, 3-year-old Jeremiah Abbott, and 2-year-old Noah Abbott.

Christina was not a drinker, her mother said. On the rare occasions she drank, it was uncommon for her to have more than a drink or two, Carlota said.

And while Carlota acknowledged her daughter had been prescribed and was taking Zoloft at the time of the crash, Christina would have never risked getting behind the wheel if she was impaired, her mother said.

“We just never thought they would do that to her — say that Christina was drinking,” Estrada said, her voice rising in disbelief.

According to Estrada, Wednesday's Daily Press article about the toxicology report provided the first update she had received since a meeting the family had with Hesperia Sheriff’s Station officials a few months after the crash.

“I just went and picked up her death certificate a few days ago and was told the cause of death was still under investigation,” Estrada said.

And it’s been painful for the family — still reeling from their loss — to see Christina’s memory tarnished by the revelation made by the Sheriff’s Department.

“Everyone’s bashing my daughter’s name, but they don’t know that she was the provider in her family,” Estrada said.

According to her mother, Christina Estrada was taking antidepressants at the time of the crash as a result of the dysfunctional relationship she had with her husband, Kevin Abbott.

“They had been arguing that day ...,” Carlota Estrada said. “We’re not sure, but we think Christina and Kevin got in a fight, she left with the kids .... and that’s when the crash happened.”

The Daily Press reached out to one of Abbott's cousins to see if he or any family members would comment for this story, but the cousin just asked for respect for the family.

Meanwhile, Estrada and her family also continue to question the safety measures around the aqueduct.

“They’re saying Christina was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but Xanthel fell in the same way,” Estrada said, referring to 24-year-old Xanthel Linares, who died last September after her black 2017 Kia Forte left Main Street and crashed into the aqueduct.

The city of Hesperia — after repeated pleas from the community to make the area safer — extended the guardrail along Main Street near the aqueduct in December, “the moment” the city “received permission from the State of California,” Hesperia Mayor Russ Blewett said.

The estimated cost of the aqueduct project on the northside of Main Street near the aqueduct came in at $14,000, with the city paying the entire cost.

“But cars are still going in there, so obviously it didn’t work,” Estrada said. “We would want a wall put up there or more secure fencing. Just something much more secure.

“I want to see justice,” she said. “The community needs to know something isn’t right here.”

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